Two examples of how the old Iceland Viking language was super progressive

T he Vikings of old were really smart folks. Yup, bloodthirsty and violent up to a point but oh so progressive too.

Whatever do we mean by that statement?

Well, seeing as the current Iceland language is still to this day 95% Viking language of yesteryear and if any 10th century Viking would accidentally be transported to the here and now, the only folks he or she could speak to and be understood would be Icelanders.

Sadly, the Iceland language is being slowly overtaken by English and in a few decades that very same time-transporting Viking will likely only be met with shrugs from the locals.

While the idea here is not to dive deep into this fascinating language we wanted to point out a couple of local greetings we believe are unique the world over. It revolves around how we locals greet and say farewell to each other. In exactly the same way the Vikings did back in the day.

Let us start with a common basic greeting. Nowadays you´ll most likely be greeted by the English-laden Halló (hello) or Hæ (hi.) But if you happen to come across older locals you might hear the greeting “komdu blessaður” or “komdu blessuð. Some, extremely lazy folks, use only blessaður or blessuð and skip the “komdu” which means “come” ”

Komdu blessaður is used if the visitor is a male and komdu blessuð if the visitor is a female (sorry, the Vikings did not anticipate transgendered people much.) We also use “komiði blessuð” if there is a group of people arriving.

What this means is literally: come blessed.

We are actually wishing the visitor to be blessed in the literal sense. Ergo; to have the favor or gift bestowed by God and therefore bringing happiness to all around.

While the editorial team of Total Iceland is not fluent in most languages of this world we have not come across any basic greeting resembling the above. If so, do let us know.

Now, let us turn our sights to the farewells of older locals. Again, speaking to the young you´ll mostly hear pasteurized English words like Bæ (bye.) But meet a local person caring about the old language and the farewell you receive might well be “vertu sæll,” if male, “vertu sæl” if female or “veriði sæl” if a group.

Vertu sæll, vertu sæl or veriði sæl literally translates to be happy! Yup, it LITERALLY means be happy.

Again, we here are no superstars in world languages but we know of no other language where you are greeted with a blessing and sent away with hopes of happiness.

Alas, this remarkable use of the language has not exactly been useful for the locals here. We still own the world record for the use of anti-depressants per capita…